Slovenia: The Slovene Europass certificate supplement

Introduced in 2007, the Slovene Europass certificate supplement (ECS) includes general information, common to all education programmes, in addition to personal information. ECS contains a detailed description of competences and achievements, distinguishing the Slovene ECS from supplements in other EU countries.

The purpose of ECS is to describe knowledge and skills acquired during vocational education and training (VET), hence it is issued after the completion of VET studies. ECS are prepared free of charge in Slovenian and English [1]. In 2017, Amendments to the Vocational Education Act were adopted, making the certificate supplement an obligatory part of the school leaving certificate [2].

The structure of the Slovene certificate Supplement is as follows:

the front page includes personal information on the ECS holder: name, date and place of birth, way of completing VET education [3] and certificate number. It also contains information about the VET school issuing the certificate, place and date of issue and signature of the competent person;

the second and third pages have the same structure as in other EU member-countries, although the information provided is more detailed (e.g. number of credit points for different parts of the education programme);

the fourth page contains individual information. Under ‘Detailed description of education’ general subjects, mandatory and optional professional modules, open curriculum [4], subjects, information on practical education, extracurricular activities, mandatory and optional parts on school leaving examination are listed. There is also space for other notes and comments [5];

the fifth page includes a scheme presenting the structure of the education system in the Republic of Slovenia, in the language in which the ECS is prepared (Slovene, English, Hungarian or Italian).

During 2007-17, around 80% of VET students received ECS on completing their upper secondary vocational education and training.

Figure 1: Share of VET schools that issue ECS, 2007-2017

Source: NEC

Starting in 2007, the ECS was initially issued for one programme only; by 2012 it expanded to all education programmes. The number of issued ECS was high, because the National Europass Centre (NEC) prepared and issued the documents for schools. Since 2012, the NEC has prepared the ECS template and schools have personalised it. Even though the ECS was optional, 85%-89% of the schools issued it. The number is expected to rise, due to the 2017 Act.

[1] For education programmes carried out in the ethnically mixed area, the ECS are also prepared in the Italian and Hungarian languages.

[2] At tertiary level, diploma supplements have been obligatory since 2000 (for first cycle professional education) and 2004 (for short cycle higher vocational).

[3] Final examination or vocational matura

[4] Schools must prepare 20% of the curricula themselves. Legislation prescribes 80% of VET programme content; the rest is so-called ‘open curriculum’. It should be designed by schools in cooperation with local employers and local communities, in accordance with local specifics or needs.

[5] Participation in mobility, high places in competitions (e.g. Euroskills)